


Runaway Snail

by MelonMass



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, M/M, This would turn into a Percy Jackson fix if I wasn't so far behind in the series, Unplanned Pregnancy, it doesn't get really mentioned beyond adult Nerites reflecting back on it, so 15 Nerites started dating 18-20 Poseidon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:11:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelonMass/pseuds/MelonMass
Summary: Nerites could take hanging around gods who did nothing but tease and turn him into a snail. He'd say he's been doing pretty good among these mortals.





	Runaway Snail

He always knew he had a baby face. Everyone kept thinking Nerites was younger than he really was. It didn’t help that he’s so short. Shorter than all of his sisters. When he first met Poseidon, the ocean king thought he was about thirteen by godly standards. In actuality, Nerites was closer to fifteen. Poseidon himself was closer twenty. They actually started their relationship not long after that.

Nerites knows the modern world sees it as pretty weird and creepy for a teen to date an adult like that. He reasons a physical five-year age difference was better than the twelve-year-old and 30 something thing the mortals seemed to see in the stories. Maybe that’s just the young god trying not to feel guilty about that relationship. Aphrodite was older than him, too, though not as much. Maybe he has a thing her people older than him.

In modern times, Nerites was physically somewhere in his 20s. Still, the dating scene is as hard as ever. Occasionally, Nerites is confused for a young teen. Hanging out at bars and other places 21 and up helps. However, there’s something else people confuse him for now. Honestly, it was so extremely rare back in the day. Now it happens almost every day with these modern humans.

“Hey, where’s the bathroom in this place?”

“Ladies’ room is around the corner there.”

“Oh… Kay? I can’t really use that, though.”

It’s weird, honestly, if not confusing.Was it the lack of facial hair? Is his hair getting too long?

“What can I get for you, sir?”

“I’d like-”

“Oh! I’m so sorry,  _ miss. _ ”

He’d honestly prefer being confused for a child than confused for a woman. Not that he thinks being a woman is a  _ bad thing! _ It’s just being called one feels absolutely wrong for him.

“I bet you want a Blue Hawaiian! It’s real popular with the ladies!”

“Uh… good for them?”

Sometimes he wonders if it was a good idea to leave the Gods. Would it have been worth living with all that ridicule?

“Is… this  _ your _ ID?”

“Yes. It is.”

No. He’s never going back to  _ that _ mess. Nerites is doing perfectly fine with that modern mortal life. Well, okay, so an unplanned for kid complicated things a little. Mortals may have a lot of options on what to do is his situation, but being a god made many of those difficult.

Abortion just has too many risks of being found. It doesn't matter what belief he has on the matter. He’s not going to just put them up for adoption, either. He’d  _ never _ leave the child to deal with powers and monsters with absolutely no idea how or why it’s happening to them. And those adoptive parents would have no idea, either. And if he told them he was a god, they’d either think he’s crazy, or he’d get found. Maybe both.

The safest option overall is for Nerites to keep the kid. It should at least be manageable for him. He raised Anteros before, and most half-bloods end up raised by single parents. The difference here is the kid will be raised by the godly parent, and the human parent won’t be involved at all. Then there’s the trick of hiding himself from the gods through all of this.

His sister, Nerea, finds him in the early months of waiting for the kid’s birth. They run into each other while Nerites stocks up on food for the coming months. “Is this where you’ve been hiding out all these decades?”

“Well, I haven’t been hiding out in a grocery store, no.”

“You know what I mean!” Nerea laughs and pulls him into a hug. “I’ve missed you, little brother.”

Nerites returns the hug with a smile. It feels much better than he thought to be called “little brother.” Maybe it’s because of how many times he’s been confused for a girl. Good  _ gods _ does it feel good to hear someone refer to him as male right off the bat. “I missed you, too.”

“I’d say ‘come back then,’ but I fully get why you left. I’d never try to make you come back.” Nerea pulls away and holds him by his shoulders. “Is that a bun? Are you wearing man-buns now?” She smiles at him.

Nerites laughs and reaches to feel the messy bun he decided to wear today. “Yeah. My hair grew too long for just a ponytail. I have to do more with it, you know?”

“I could cut it for you. Like I used to.”

He wants to say yes. He wants to bring his sister home and show her this little life he’s set up for himself. He wants her to  _ know. _ But… “I… I don’t know.”

“I wasn’t followed,” she whispers. “I  _ swear _ I would just let them find you like that.”

_ He’s safe. _ He knows. “I have to finish my shopping first.”

Nerea walks beside him while Nerites continues pushing the cart. “How much do you  _ need? _ Do you really eat this much?”

“I… don’t really plan to leave the house again for a while.” He doesn’t want to go out when it becomes visibly clear there’s a baby on the way. This isn’t the right place to tell her. He can tell her later, back home. This of course means he can’t stock up on baby stuff this trip.

“Then I could make shopping trips for you!” That’s just like her to offer to help him like that. “I own you after I didn’t-”

“That’d be nice!” Nerites interrupts with a forced cheery tone. “You don’t have to, but it’d also be nice to have you around.”

His sister smiles apologetically at him. He doesn’t want to say she’s his favorite sister, he’d never say that, but she’s definitely always been the closest to him. Nerea’s always looked out for him. Even now, she helps Nerites carry his groceries back to his little house.

The house was more of a shack about ten years ago. The young sea god has been trying to fix it up throughout the years. It’s still pretty small, but he doesn’t mind at all. All the land around it is really the best part of it, anyway. It’s essentially just two rooms including the bathroom. Both are big enough that he wasn’t really planning on adding another room on for a few more years.

“Do you just sleep on the couch?”

“It turns into a bed! I think three or four people could fit to sleep on it.” Nerites puts away the food stuffs while Nerea gets her barings. “I have some movies under there, too.” That’s not the only thing stored under the couch. He bought a high chair last week, and it’s current home is right beside that bin of movies. This is how he’ll tell his sister. Hopefully.

Nerites continues putting food away. He grabs a can of tomato paste, but Nerea suddenly grabs his hand and keeps him there. “Highchair. A… a  _ baby? _ So you’re…”

“Y… yeah.” He feels his face flush a bit. “I’m gonna be a dad. Again.”

“Who did you… Who’s the other parent?”

“I- I don’t know.” The young god honestly never bothered to try and figure that out. “There were a lot of people that night, okay? It’s hard to tell which one  _ did it _ when I had more than one in-”

“NO NO NO!” Nerea brought her hands quickly to her ears. “ _ Please _ no details!”

Nerites’s face burns. “I know there weren’t any gods there! Might have been a half-blood or two, but-”

“Okay! Okay.” The older sister puts her hands on his shoulders. “How far… When is the kid gonna get here?” A change in subject. She clearly doesn’t want to continue thinking about the fact her baby brother has a  _ sex life. _

“Should be about half a year at the least.”

“Okay…” Nerea pulls Nerites into a gently hug. “You know there’s no way I’m just leaving you now, right? I’m staying here.”

“I know.” Hesitantly, Nerites returns the hug. “I know.”


End file.
